Many histories have been written about medical care during the American Civil War but the participation and contributions of African-Americans as nurses, surgeons and hospital workers have often been overlooked. This exhibit looks at the men and women who served as surgeons and nurses and how their work as medical providers challenged the prescribed notions of race and gender.

Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, Special Collections and Archives Reading Room

Given his anatomical subjects, Walko appropriately likens his elaborate process to a medical operation, with the tape serving as skin and the removing of the tape representing the exposed anatomy. At this show at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, he showcases his anatomical creations, some of which have been inspired by materials from the library collection.

Dylan Loftis, who graduated from VCU this spring with an M.F.A. in craft and material studies, presents two intriguing conversation pieces created for his thesis, Bone of my Bone. The pieces, collectively titled B.O.M.B. Mk. II (Bone of my Bone Mark II), are sculptures rooted in traditional woodworking and furniture design. The artist has taken broken furniture and "repaired" it into fanciful, grotesque new shapes.

Activists and reformers in the United States have long recognized the harm of domestic violence and sought to improve the lives of women who were battered. During the late 20th century, nurses took up the call. With passion and persistence, they worked to reform a medical profession that overwhelmingly failed to acknowledge violence against women as a serious health issue. Beginning in the late 1970s, nurses were the vanguard as they pushed the larger medical community to identify victims, adequately respond to their needs, and work toward the prevention of domestic violence. This exhibit tells that story.

Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, Special Collections and Archives Reading Room